1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image capturing apparatus for capturing image data by controlling an image reading apparatus, and a control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A scanner as one type of an image reading apparatus can scan an original such as a photograph or document, and transmit the scanned original as image data to a PC (Personal Computer) connected by a USB cable or the like. When obtaining image data by using the scanner, the user of the PC must perform four steps of operations described below on an OS (Operating System) such as Microsoft Windows (registered trademark) in a typical case:
(1) Activate a scan application.
(2) Set read control information such as the resolution, color mode (color, grayscale, or black-and-white), and size of an original.
(3) Select a save destination folder of the obtained image data.
(4) Press a scan button.
When the scan button is pressed, the scanner starts scanning an original and transmits the image data to the PC. The PC saves the received image data in the save destination folder selected in step (3).
As described above, the user must perform many operations to scan an original, and this is cumbersome for the user. For example, the save destination folder initially presented in step (3) is not necessarily a folder that the user desires, but a predetermined folder such as “my documents” or a folder selected at last time by the user. An operation of finding and selecting a desired folder from this state is troublesome for the user.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-316821, therefore, has proposed a technique that simplifies the save destination folder selecting operation by dealing an original set on the scanner as a virtual file. According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-316821, when a user drags and drops this virtual file in a desired folder, the scanner starts scanning an original, and the obtained image data is saved in the drop destination folder.
Note that “drag and drop” is one method by which a user operates a computer. More specifically, a user presses a mouse button while a mouse pointer is superposed on an icon indicating a file or the like, moves (drags) the mouse pointer while pressing the mouse button, and releases (drops) the mouse button in another window or on another icon.
This technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-316821 simplifies the save destination folder selecting operation. However, the read control information setting operation in step (2) described above is still troublesome for a user. For example, when successively reading a plurality of documents, the same read control information is often used for the same type of originals. However, different kinds of read control information are generally used to read different kinds of originals such as photographs and texts. Therefore, when reading different types of originals by frequently changing them, the read control information setting operation is extremely laborious for a user.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and has as its feature to further simplify the operation necessary to scan an original by the scanner, thereby reducing user's labor.